Google’s Pichai calls US remedies ‘de facto’ spinoff of search

Bloomberg Davey Alba and Leah Nylen Alphabet Inc Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai informed a judge who revealed that Google illegally monopolizes online search that a Justice Department proposal to share search input with rivals would be a de facto divestiture of the company s search engine If Google were required to share both its search content and the information on how it ranks results rivals could reverse engineer every aspect of our innovation Pichai testified on Wednesday The proposal on facts sharing is so far reaching so extraordinary Pichai revealed It feels like de facto divestiture of search and its entire intellectual property and mechanism over years of research he reported During testimony in federal court in Washington Pichai asserted that a package of antitrust remedies proposed by the establishment is too extreme and will undermine Google s ability to compete in the field The combination of remedies would make it unviable to continue to invest in research and expansion he disclosed It will have various unintended consequences Pichai was called to testify as part of a three-week trial aimed at determining how Google should restore competition to online search after Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year that the tech giant had illegally maintained a monopoly in the field The Justice Department wrapped up its occurrence on Tuesday afternoon and the company is now presenting its evidence and testimony The establishment wants Google to divest its Chrome browser license chosen search content to competitors and stop paying for specific positions on other apps and devices It has also appealed that Mehta extend the ban to Google s AI products including its AI assistant Gemini which the ruling body says were aided by the company s illegal monopoly in search Google has countered that the ruling body s proposal would hurt American consumers and the market and weaken US technological leadership Related Articles Meta app makers launch Washington lobby to fight Apple and Google Nvidia CEO urges Trump to change rules for AI chip exports South Bay input center deal points to jump in values amid AI tech surge Tech companies chop hundreds of Bay Area jobs as layoffs persist Opinion California s battle over figures privacy protections reaches a crossroads Pichai is testifying for the third time in as a great number of years as Google s long-running antitrust cases have wound their way through the courts In late over two short weeks the tech executive had to pivot from Mehta s courtroom in Washington defending Google in the first phase of the Justice Department s search monopoly matter to another in San Francisco where a judge heard accusations by Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc that Google Play had illegally maintained dominance in the mobile-app marketplace In both those cases plus a third where Pichai didn t testify concerning Google s dominance of online advertising mechanism markets Google was revealed to have engaged in anticompetitive behavior That shows the unprecedented antitrust scrutiny the tech company has faced in latest years in the US over its power to control key aspects of the online world Pichai has spent the majority of his career at Google starting as a product manager in and rising through the ranks to become CEO of the company in He has held several roles including helping to engineer the company s Android strategy and playing a key role in the advancement of Chrome As was the affair during his first appearance in federal court for the initial phase of the Justice Department s search monopoly incident Pichai was dressed in a dark suit and decided to stand instead of sit as he gave testimony He was Google s second witness after the company s lawyers called on Google employee Heather Adkins a cybersecurity expert on Tuesday afternoon Adkins testified that Google s commitment to assurance made it a good steward of Chrome as she described tactics that the company worked to thwart bad actors malicious attacks targeting the browser Mehta has commented he wants to deliver a decision on how to remedy the harm caused by Google s dominance by August But whatever he decides there will likely be a years-long wait for any changes to take effect at Google After the remedy hearing the company is expected to appeal and potentially take the occurrence to the US Supreme Court More stories like this are available on bloomberg com Bloomberg L P